China's Chip Fund in Talks to Lead DeepSeek Funding, Sources Say

China's Big Fund in Talks to Lead DeepSeek's $45 Billion Fundraising Round

China's main chip-sector investment fund, the China Integrated Circuit Industry Investment Fund, is in discussions to lead a fundraising round for DeepSeek, a high-profile AI startup, at a valuation of about $45 billion, according to the Financial Times. The talks were reported by the FT, citing people with knowledge of the discussions.

The state vehicle, also known as the Big Fund, is seeking to lead the financing round, although details of the round and its participants have not been finalized. The Big Fund is a backer of some of China's largest chip players, including Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corp. The state outfit's potential involvement in DeepSeek's financing would underscore the importance Beijing is attaching to the startup's maiden financing.

DeepSeek is a key player in China's campaign to develop alternatives to US technology, such as Nvidia Corp. AI accelerators. During the launch of its latest V4 model, the startup publicly touted its compatibility with AI chips made by domestic champion Huawei Technologies Co. The startup is in financing talks with some of China's biggest tech names, including Tencent Holdings Ltd. and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., which are also in discussions to join DeepSeek's first external financing round at a targeted valuation of about $40 billion.

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DeepSeek was founded in 2023 by Liang Wenfeng, the cofounder of hedge fund Zhejiang High-Flyer Asset Management. The startup released a breakthrough model in January 2025 that shook the AI world, achieving performance comparable to US rivals despite China's limited access to international talent and cutting-edge semiconductor technology. Following the success of its model, DeepSeek is expanding into agentic AI, a field that has gained significant attention in recent times.

The startup is tapping into a wave of enthusiasm for software that can carry out tasks without human intervention. As part of its expansion plans, DeepSeek has posted more than a dozen job listings for agent-related roles as of March. Like most startups, DeepSeek is raising capital and forging partnerships to gain access to the sort of costly computing power that data center builders Alibaba and Tencent can provide, to underpin an expansion into new fields.

Comparison of Valuations

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